Dish Network’s internal systems were so broken that some employees missed work for a day

Since Thursday morning, Dish Network experienced a major outage that took down the company’s main websites, apps, and customer support systems, and employees were told. The Verge it is not clear what is going on inside the company. The company’s Dish.com website is completely blank except for a notice apologizing for “any disruptions you may experience” while promising that “teams are working hard to restore systems as soon as possible.” easy.” The Boost Mobile and Boost Infinite sites show a similar message.

When we called each brand’s customer support lines, there was no one on the other end — each call automatically hung up after delivering a recorded message about the outage.

In an ironic twist, the outage began just as Dish was scheduled to release its earnings for Q4 and fiscal year 2022. CEO Erik Carlson addressed this during the company’s earnings call, saying that the company experienced “an internal outage that continues to affect our internal servers and IT telephony.” While Carlson admitted that Dish, Sling, and the company’s wireless networks were operating normally, he admitted that “internal communications, customer care functions, Internet sites” had been taken down.

Inside, frontline employees were kept in the dark about what was going on. Two sources spoke The Verge that they were told to stand by for information from their leadership groups, which has not yet arrived. According to them, it is not even clear if they will be paid. Employees were also told they could not connect to their VPN, preventing remote workers from logging in to work.

A regional installer contracted by the company also showed up The Verge a message appears to be from Dish that says so all its systems are down. Continuing the theme of murky communication, other messages shared by employees said “multiple systems” were down but few technicians were able to do any part of their jobs. However, they also know that the receivers must be activated when the systems come back online.

Despite Carlson’s comments that Dish’s services should work normally, Downdetector shows an increase in reports of issues using Dish Network services, which include satellite TV and Boost Mobile’s wireless network. Customers reported on social media that they could not activate new equipment or SIM cards received from the company, and technicians said they could not complete the installation and upgrade of customers .

Customers have also said that the outage prevented them from paying their bills. Dish’s site doesn’t address this issue, but Boost Mobile’s says that if your account is affected “your service will not be terminated for non-payment.” Dish’s customer service Twitter account also tells customers they will not lose service if they do not pay during this time. For those whose accounts were not affected, the company says they can “pay your bill by dialing 611, using the App or by visiting a store.”

The Desk reported that the outage did not appear to be the result of a cyberattack, citing “a person familiar with the issue,” though Dish may not have completed its investigation. The company did not respond The VergeRequests for comment or repeat requests by Light Reading — but it’s unclear whether the representatives we contacted have access to their email.

Update February 24th, 6:59PM ET: Added screenshot of the email announcing Dish’s loss.